Packages for packing and transporting eggs are known in a variety of forms. Traditionally, such packages have comprised a bottom part provided with suitably shaped compartments for accommodation of the eggs, and an upper part forming a cover over the bottom part for accommodating the upper portions of the eggs housed within the package and for closing the package. Often, the upper part is connected to the lower part by means of a suitable hinge portion, although packages comprising separate bottom and upper parts have also been used. In those packages that comprise a hingedly connected bottom and cover part, the vertical front side of the bottom part is often provided with a flexible flap comprising a number of protrusions for engagement with correspondingly located and shaped holes in the cover part, thereby locking the bottom and cover parts together in the closed state of the package. A package of this kind suffers from various disadvantages. In the closed position, the front face of the package will be subdivided into an upper part and a lower part, and as the lower part is typically formed to be able to accommodate and support the articles contained within the package, it is only the upper part which can be given a planar shape that permits the application of text and pictures describing the contents of the package.
EP 1 373 100 discloses a display and distribution packaging unit for fragile articles, especially for eggs, comprising a bottom part, which at least partially matches the outer contours of the eggs housed within the unit, and a cover part comprising planar top- and side surfaces for the provision of graphical information about the contents of the unit, where portions of the end surfaces of the cover part are shaped to reflect the shape of the eggs housed within the display and distribution package. A problem with this egg package is that the closing and locking mechanism is provided by a traditional locking flap having a protrusion which extends through an aperture in the front side of the cover part, thus reducing the available place for a label.
Thus, in the prior art egg packages it has only been possible to place a label on the top surface of the cover part, which often is not visible when the egg packages are stacked in a sales rack. There has therefore always been a conflict between having a large surface for the placement of a label and at the same time having a reliable closing and locking mechanism, i.e. a large area for a label without compromising the reliability of the locking mechanism. Additionally, a closure flap as known from EP 1 373 100 is an element which increases the cost of manufacture and transport of the egg packages.
Moreover, the separate partially ovoid portions of the above mentioned egg package are not well suitable for being decorated with embossments formed as words or of other more spacious nature.